Peyton Manning ranks Bill Belichick as greatest coach in NFL history

Peyton Manning isn’t giving away many secrets as he prepares to go against Tom Brady for a 15th time, but the Denver Broncos quarterback did a little piling on this week when asked about New England’s Bill Belichick.

“Coach Belichick is the best coach that I’ve ever competed against,” Manning told reporters Wednesday. “I think it’s safe to say he’ll go down as the greatest NFL coach of all time.”

Saying he respects Brady, Manning declined to get involved in ranking him and others in the pantheon of great quarterbacks.

“Tom Brady is an incredibly competitive quarterback that has played his best football in so many big games,” Manning said. “I am not one that ever has the ranking of quarterbacks.

“I’ve been fortunate to play against some great quarterbacks — Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning. The list goes on and on and on. I know rankings and lists are important to a lot of people. I have such great respect for all of them, and if you want to name anybody in any order on any list, that’s fine. I’m just flattered to be in the conversation.”